Impersonating a Constable

From one of our guest tripr travellers.....

On a bright sunny St. George’s Day my friend and I followed a winding country road for a couple of miles through Stratford St Mary to the charming village of Dedham on the Suffolk /Essex border.

Our destination was Dedham Hall, a Hotel and Residential Art Course Centre which we had visited previously. Although courses can be three or four nights, we had opted for a full week of art to fully immerse ourselves in the outdoors and enjoy some fresh air after being couped up all winter!

The courses are run from a large light studio set in a courtyard surrounded by self-contained accommodation for guests, apart from the hotel, and making use of the extensive gardens and grounds for painting and sketching opportunities without needing to venture further afield.

Great places to stay

Dedham Hall dates from the 15th century and is renowned for its excellent catering and the courses run by professional art tutors. The food was superb and with the company of other artists made for enjoyable evenings too. The courses cover a wide variety of subjects and media, from watercolour, pastel, oils and acrylics to drawing, for students of many different abilities.

There is much to see close at hand if a break is needed. A nearby redundant Congregational Chapel has been turned into a thriving Craft Centre with an attached cafe regularly used by cyclists and tourists. Close by the large light church of St Mary the Virgin is reported to be the last medieval Wool Church to be built.

Next door to the church is the former grammar school attended by John Constable himself and now a private house. We followed a path by this house past the War Memorial which led across a playing field to a small group of pink cottages around a courtyard. The owner who lived in the Master Weavers House came out when he saw our sketch books inviting us into the grounds and explaining that his house dated from the 12th century with the adjoining cottages where the weavers lived, from the 14th. The best quality wool was evidently exported to the ‘Low Countries’. Two of these cottages are now being used for AirBnB.

Dedham is famous not only for its connection with Constable, but other artists including Sir Alfred Munnings ,who lived in the area much longer and his former home, Castle House within walking distance of the village is now a museum. Gainsborough also painted many local views.

Walking in his footsteps

A footpath linked to Dedham Hall and the village leads across the well-known water meadows by the River Stour for just over a mile to Flatford Mill and Willy Lotts Cottage, little changed since Constable’s day, although the National Trust has a centre there in what was the Clarke’s cottage by the Stour where facsimiles of his minute sketch books can be seen on request of the site manager and copies of some of his well known paintings.

The whole area is riddled with footpaths well used by joggers, tourists and dog walkers and as part of the Stour Valley Way runs from Newmarket to Cattawade at the estuary where there is a Nature Reserve, a distance of 60 miles.

It is possible to do a river trip to see the local wildlife from the bridge at Dedham to the Mill or vice versa and at weekends the river is busy with rowing boats and paddle boards on what was once the main trade route into North Essex and Suffolk 200 years ago. The Stour features in many of Constable’s paintings and sketches.  

The wide main street of the village of Dedham has fine buildings dating from medieval times with many large Georgian properties showing the wealth of previous eras. There are many places to stay in and around the village, or enjoy local food. The Sun in the High Street started life as a coaching inn and Dedham Hall is a fine Hotel with rooms overlooking the lake and grounds filled with daffodils, bluebells and blossom in late April.

Slightly further afield for the art course students and walkers is Pin Mill on the River Orwell where bookings are needed for the famous Butt and Oyster pub. A trip to the Blackwater Estuary was ideal for painting the traditional Thames barge on its journey from Maldon or studying the migrating birds on the mudflats or salt marshes.

Our week was completed by a memorable trip to nearby Stoke by Nayland where once again the main street by the church gave ample ideas for art work using the cottages for inspiration having also been painted by many artists in the past.

When to come

This was our second art course and they run all over the country across the whole year but we would definitely recommend it when you can be outside to enjoy both the scenery and the air!

The above blog was from a guest contributor and if you'd like to share a trip of yours for others to enjoy please drop us a line: info@tripr.travel

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